


By Your Side

by Ipodsandstars



Series: Marvel Drabble Shenanigans [15]
Category: Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Darcy Lewis, Bruce Banner Feels, Bruce Banner-centric, Bruce Feels, Bruce doesn't Hulk out, Comfort/Angst, Darcy is the fandom bicycle and I love it, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hydra (Marvel), I Will Go Down With This Ship, Protective Bruce, SHIELD Agent Darcy Lewis, Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 03:11:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2175876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ipodsandstars/pseuds/Ipodsandstars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce never thought HYDRA would ever perfect a way to repress the Hulk before he did. Bruce had been trying for years to repress the Hulk and just when he'd given up on ever finding a cure… HYDRA comes to take everything away from him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	By Your Side

**Author's Note:**

> Before the fic begins, I would like to say I've suffered really bad depression the past couple of days due to hate and stuff so I gave up on my fics but I'm gonna slowly get to them. Then next week I have to go to enrollment day (where I get used to the place etc) of college and my anxiety is playing up so please excuse the delay in my other fics, e.g my Mistakes and Shattered Hopes series and please excuse me if this fic is shit  
> if you want to talk to me, I'm on tumblr. My pen name is the same as my tumblr name so I'm Ipodsandstars, you can leave prompts there  
> This pairing means so much to me so please enjoy, it makes me happy.

**By Your Side  
Summary: Bruce never thought HYDRA would ever perfect a way to repress the Hulk before he did. Bruce had been trying for years to repress the Hulk and just when he’d given up on ever finding a cure… HYDRA comes to take everything away from him.**

None of the Avengers or Darcy expected the impossible to happen – Bruce was hurt… and he didn’t transform into the Hulk in time.  
Darcy and Bruce were trying to be normal in their world for once, they wanted to have a date and just spend time with one another and do all the romantic mushy crap without having to run from danger all the time. They had been together and had been dating for a while now and Darcy was all for helping Bruce one way or another.  
Bruce just wanted to act like he was normal – after running for so long from a man that wanted him for his power that was ‘cursed’ upon him by an accident the same man that was chasing him, had caused, he’d had enough. Bruce blamed himself for the accident while Darcy blamed General Ross – he was so set on power and would stop at nothing. Everyone just wanted power for control nowadays.

Bruce had Darcy now, who loved him for who he was, green guy and all and he loved that, the way she made him feel special (in a good way).

He would do anything for her and that was proven later that day.  
They were just having coffee in a corner shop, not far from the tower and talking like normal people would. Darcy was talking about her life before Jane Foster, something she was comfortable talking about to Bruce even though she hadn't had a good start in life, like most of the Avengers. Darcy had talked about the fact that because she was successful with grades and had jobs, she was supposed to be the one to be the drug dealer to her family.  
When she refused, they beat her and for years she felt like she was on her own because nobody believed her – she never had any friends and all the teachers really talked to her about was the fact that she was brainy but didn’t really interact with anyone.  
In return of this information that Bruce sort of already knew because he’d rescued her from her parents one last time and she’d never seen them again, Bruce began talking about his own life. He was comfortable talking about his own bad past because he trusted Darcy and he loved her.  
They weren't interrupting anyone, weren't disturbing anyone and they kept quiet and to themselves and were able to have a few jokes here and there about other things in their lives. Bruce was saying how he loved the times they had on their own because there was some peace and quiet from Tony who drove everyone up the frickin’ wall.  
They were just being normal adults who were in love and were discussing the possibilities of taking things further and Darcy was so proud of Bruce, so proud of what he’d become and what he had achieved and the thing about Darcy was that she made sure he knew that because he’d never really got much praise in his life – just vile abuse thrown in his face tossed around with the word ‘Monster’, which Darcy called bullshit upon.

The date lasted about an hour and half, they’d finished their coffees way before the one hour mark but they were just so lost in talking to each other, genuinely being happy for once that they forget everything around them. They ignored the phone calls to them from the others, they just wanted to spend some time alone and they got that and they loved it.  
But why was it that every time something seemed to be going right for them; something always had to go wrong? Why did fate have to bite them in the ass?

There was one gunshot and everyone started running, Bruce looked round and didn’t seem to see anyone with a gun so he just assumed someone was headed their way, Darcy paid their bill as everyone began to run and then followed Bruce outside the coffee shop.  
Another gunshot went off and it penetrated a wall behind Darcy, barely missing her shoulder and she screamed, running into Bruce.  
Bruce hadn’t changed.  
By now Bruce would have been glowing green, but he wasn’t. Bruce turned to Darcy and noticed that a gunman was heading their way – HYDRA. Again.  
He told Darcy to run, knowing that the Tower was probably the safest place because he wouldn't lose her. Then Bruce realised what HYDRA were after – Power… and the power was him. Meaning that the coffee maker… had been a HYDRA agent in disguise and Bruce’s coffee had been specifically modified to repress the Hulk, rendering Bruce useless…

They weren't after the Hulk. They were planning to kill Bruce and would stop at nothing until they got what they wanted – meaning they would target Darcy too  
Darcy must have realised this too, she was a SHIELD agent and knew what HYDRA was up to and she began pulling Bruce along. It was then that Darcy rang Stark at the tower, rang them to say what was going and she needed help, they needed help.  
Bruce was more concerned about Darcy, He couldn’t protect her – he didn’t have the Other guy and now he didn’t have the Other Guy, he could easily be killed.  
As much as he would have loved to have that cure about 5 years ago, he now really didn’t want to leave the best thing that had ever happened to him.  
A bullet entered Bruce’s shoulder as he ran, pushing Darcy in front of him and he groaned with pain.  
“Bruce, Bruce just hang on okay?” she asked, panicking.  
“We should have picked up our phones when they began to ring, it was probably our warning.” He whispered, blood staining his favourite purple shirt and he almost tripped over his own feet.

Everything just seemed to be happening so fast – one minute they were on a date and the next minute they were being shot at.  
The tower was in sights and they could see Natasha running their way to meet them, firing at the HYDRA agent that was following them with ease. Darcy had tripped and fell to the floor, her hair blinding her vision so she couldn't see that the HYDRA agent was aiming the gun at her… and he knew Bruce would react.  
He was right.  
As the agent went to pull the trigger, Bruce threw himself in front of Darcy – the bullet entering Bruce’s chest and he didn’t get up.  
He looked at Darcy with sad, apologetic eyes as she slipped into unconsciousness – Natasha was quick but she wasn't quick enough at stopping the enemy. She called for someone to take Bruce to the hospital – they were losing him.

From then on, time seemed to slow down for everyone, especially Darcy. Between crying and screaming, she had to be held by Clint as she was told just exactly what HYDRA had planned to do – the phone calls they had ignored had been attempted warnings.  
But this was impossible. Bruce shouldn't be in hospital; Hulk should have saved him. How had HYDRA discovered a way to repress the Hulk before they did? How could they do something that Bruce had been trying to do for years?

She didn’t know, all she knew was Clint let her into Bruce’s hospital room after the operation and was watching him sleep. He'd be okay, hopefully. He had to be, but if not Darcy would look after him until he got better – she wouldn't give up.

She was by his side the entire time, refusing to move so she could keep an eye on Bruce, if he woke up. He needed to know that he wasn't alone during this tough time.  
She knew he needed reassurance most of the time. He never got praised; he was always abused and bullied for being who he was, even before the Other Guy came into play. With his father and what he’d witnessed happening to his mother, he never really believed in himself, he never really had love and he'd pushed away everyone to try and protect them. Darcy knew she wouldn't be going anywhere; she’d refuse to.  
Bruce needed to believe in himself, he had to.

It was a few days before he finally woke up – everything had gone so seriously fast with the date, the HYDRA agent and the shooting and now he was awake. He was wary and could hear faintly hear the Other Guy again so whatever they did was only temporary.  
The second thing he noticed was someone leaning on his bladder and he really needed to pee.  
Bruce looked down and let out a strangled chuckle, Darcy had curled up on his bed with him and was using his stomach as a pillow.

“Darce?” he asked softly  
She murmured and groaned softly, then realised whose voice it was and shot up – tears threatening to fall.  
“Baby?” she asked softly.  
He nodded with a small laugh and wrapped his arms round her, groaning in pain as he remembered where his bullet wounds were.  
“You need to bring me up to speed with everything.” He whispered, kissing her as Darcy began to laugh and sob at the same time so she actually sounded like some sort of strangled cat.

“I don’t want to lose you again. I was worried you wouldn't make it.”  
“Why?” he asked, looking at her and her eyes sparkled in the small light above his head.  
“Because you never believed in yourself, with Hulk gone temporarily, we thought you would…Would give up on life, it might have been what you finally wanted…”  
“Me, give up on you? Are you kidding?” he replied “You are the best thing that has happened to me. Or have you forgotten in the space of how long I've been asleep that I bloody love you?”  
“We're going to protect you from HYDRA, we all are. We’re going to find out what they used, where they came from...”  
Bruce nodded and smiled softly, settling down in the bed and closed his eyes again – listening to the Other Guy sleeping in his head. He was fine and Bruce was actually okay with that, weirdly enough. Though, Hulk was a constant companion and what you would call an ‘old friend’ so Bruce was actually getting used to him.  
They lay in silence for a while before Bruce broke the silence, looking at Darcy with a smirk on his face despite the situation.  
“I'm not helping you with the paperwork though”  
“…You bastard.”

Things were going to be okay, hopefully. they'd pull through like they always did and they;d have each other. Bruce was starting to believe in himself - Darcy was just worrying over him and it was nice.  
Darcy was right though, she always was.  
He had a home and he needed to believe in himself - he didn't have to run anymore. They could face the danger, together.


End file.
